I went out to dinner with one of my friends on Thursday. Whilst perusing the menu, I spotted a small list of mocktails. I try not to drink on weeknights, so I was overjoyed to see something fancy without the alcohol.

I selected the Apple Cinnamon Sparkler. It was a mix of apple cider, cinnamon simple syrup, and soda water. The mocktail had just the right amount of warming spice and fizz. Plus, it came with a cinnamon stick!

This is why I love that mocktails are a thing. I hope they're a trend with staying power.

Sometimes I don’t want alcohol, but I also don’t want to default to water or soda. Mocktails give me a choice, and let me order something that still feels special. Also, not everyone drinks. Seeing mocktails on a menu is a small but meaningful signal that everyone can partake.

Also, bartenders can be rather innovate when building their drinks. There's so much you can do with mixers and syrups and bubbles.

What do you like to drink?

Our freezer has four different kinds of baked goods in it right now. There are two breakfast items - peanut butter oatmeal muffins and an astounding number of cream scones. There are also two kinds of cookies - snickerdoodles and chocolate ginger. Oh! And I just now remembered the four mini sweet breads my mom brought for the holidays.

I have a love hate relationship with these items.

I hate how much space all of this takes up. We have a large freezer, but the many Ziploc bags of baked goods amount to about a quarter of our storage space. I hate that I forget these items are in there so they stick around for a long time. And, when I do remember them, I hate how easy it is to give myself a treat. 

At the same time, I love that we have these treats on hand. It's so easy to pull out one or two individual items and defrost them from whoever wants them. Breakfast on a busy morning? Solved. A quick afternoon sweet? Don't mind if I do! I love that we save money by using what's on hand instead of buying something from the myriad of local bakeries. Most importantly, I love that freezing things reduces our food waste. Nothing goes stale on the counter, or grows mold and ends up in our compost bin.

So, yes, the freezer is crowded. And, yes, I sometimes side-eye it when I’m digging around for whatever I need to defrost for the next day's dinner. But, overall, it feels like a small trade-off for convenience, savings, and less waste.

How do you handle "excess" baked goods?

Last week, I set up my bullet journal for 2026. There's just something about a fresh, uncracked spine and blank paper that makes me feel energized. It's the aura of possibility. While things are mostly finished with the set up, I saved the design for my Word of the Year page for later. 

My word for 2026 is "Connect." It embodies all of the things I am hoping for in my personal and professional life. As I was planning, I discovered that "connecting" begins with disconnecting. I plan on doing my annual digital clean out this month and I decided that several things have got to go. First on the list, Facebook. It doesn't serve me any more. I kept telling myself that I needed to keep it to run my work Facebook and Instagram accounts, but that turns out to not be the case. On Friday, I separated the work Instagram from Facebook. I also decided my library didn't need Facebook anymore. We get no engagement so it's not worth it. So, next week, I shall begin the process of deleting my Facebook account.

In order to "Connect" to what serves me now, I need to do less of so many other things. I've been visualizing this like a power strip. You only have so much space to plug things in. I've always done a digital clean out, but this year, I'm going to be ruthless. If it's not useful, it goes. If doesn't bring me joy, it goes. If it in any way makes me feel things I don't need to feel, it goes. And then, when I'm done with my digital life, I'm moving offline. I can't exactly "unsubscribe" from things like laundry, but I can certainly stop doing things I don't need to be doing any more.

All of this disconnecting will let me free up space for what matters to me now.

​What changes are you making for 2026?

We are deep in the holiday chaos where I seem to always be covered in flour, glitter, holiday ribbon, evergreen needles, chocolate, or everything at the same time. Also, I can never get my snickerdoodles to come at as well as my mom's. That makes me a bit grumpy.

Let's get straight to the Wrap!

My library held its final webinar of the semester on Friday. A colleague presented on "digital hygge" or creating cozy, healthy online habits. It was a delight! Since we got some snow on Friday, the webinar brought the perfect mix of cozy and useful material to the final workday of the week.

If you want to add some digital hygge to your life, here are some things to try:

• Create a cozy space - Get ergonomic tools (like adjustable desks, chairs, and keyboards) or cuddle into a pile of blankets. Light a candle or two. Turn on a cozy playlist. Do whatever you need to feel warm.
• ​Curate your feeds - Follow accounts that make you feel informed, inspired, or calm - unfollow the rest. Mute what you need to take a break from. 
• Train your algorithm - Pause and interact with content you like. Scroll past bad content or log out immediately when things start to head in a direction you don't like. (Some platforms will even let you reset your feed and start over.)
• Limit notifications -T urn off anything that isn’t essential to reduce interruption.
• Use cozy videos - Pick cozy or calming videos to have open on the side as you work. Try for something with minimal animation, warm colors, and soothing sounds.
• Create screen-free zones -  Keep certain spaces or times (like meals or bedtime) tech-free.
• ​Declutter your digital spaces - Clean up your inbox, organize your files, and delete unused apps. Close all those extra tabs!
• Practice slow tech - Do one thing at a time instead of opening infinite tabs or windows.
• ​Balance consuming with creating - Spend as much time making, learning, or connecting (offline!) as you do scrolling.
• Log off without guilt - A break is healthy. The internet will be there when you get back

​
What's your best digital hygge habit?

I hope everyone had a marvelous Thanksgiving. This is going to be a pretty short Wrap. Since it was a holiday week and we were with family the entire time, I was "touching grass" more than I was online. So let's get straight to the links.

One surprising thing about parenting is how many interesting people we've met. I expected to make new “parent friends” after our daughter was born, but I didn’t realize just how much the kiddo would expand our social circle.

She’s the kind of kid who befriends anyone willing to play with her. She bounces from friend to friend, which means we end up talking with all kinds of adults we’d never have met otherwise. Plus, in a very “only in DC” twist, she somehow keeps befriending the kids of diplomats. We've now met folks from Scandinavia, Germany, Spain, Catalonia, Brazil, and Afghanistan.

We just spent a Friendsgiving with a remarkable group of people from all different backgrounds. This is a fringe benefit of parenting I didn't expect but will continue to love.

It's that point of the year where I can't decide if I want to be a loaf who does nothing or someone who fills our calendar with all of the holiday fun.

So far, the holiday fun is winning. Having a kid who enjoys doing stuff tips the scale. I took a look at our calendar and, aside from the last weekend of the year, we have at least one event or party already filling each weekend. There's some holiday travel, two parties, and two dance performances. Somewhere in there, we'll need to get a tree and decorate. And kiddo is ending the year going to a week of gymnastics camp.

We are in the mad dash to 2026. I'm not sure if I'm ready for the another new year. 

On Friday, my colleague hosted our library's webinar on how not to get scammed. There are a lot of people out there trying to get your money. They are persistent and they are not going away. In fact, in the middle of the webinar, I got one of those "Hello" texts from an unknown number that is the start of many catfishing scams. 

At this point, my personal policy is to not respond to or pick up any text message or phone call if the number is not already in my phone. If it's real, they'll leave a voicemail or try contacting me another way.

But that is just the first line of defense. Here are some other things you can do:

• Slow down, breathe, and think - Most scams rush you into action because they want to scare you into a response before you can think logically.
• ​Check the sender - Look closely at the full email address or number. Google the number or message - many scam numbers are listed online because the same message is sent to so many people.
• Ask a second party - Show the message to a family member, friend, or librarian to get their reaction. Uninvolved parties who aren't emotionally connected have an easier time identifying scams.
• Get others involved - Scammers tell you to keep things secret because they don't want others to prevent you from acting.
• Notice sketchy payments - Gift cards, crypto, or wire transfers are all red flags.
• Don’t share personal info -  No real company asks for passwords or SSNs by text or email.
• Never give remote access - Scammers may ask to “fix” your computer or bank issue - don’t let them.
• Use strong, unique passwords - A password manager can help. (And update passwords regularly!)
• Turn on two-step or biometric verification - It blocks access even if someone gets your password.
• Don’t overshare online - Details like birthdays, schools, or pets’ names can help scammers guess passwords or create a sense of trust with you.
• Trust your gut - If something feels off, stop before you do anything.
• Report it - File scams at reportfraud.ftc.gov.

What do you do to prevent yourself from being scammed?

We've got family in town, so I'm skipping the intro to get you straight to the Wrap. It's a bit of a short one this week (because life), but I hope you find at least one thing to enjoy.